The pamphlet had a clear message on it that Daesh was here and was here to stay. To terrorize us, kill us and rob us of our internal strength. They somehow did it swiftly, ruthlessly and unfortunately successfully as well; but have they really broken our spirit? This has no quick answer.
The pamphlet claimed to be written by Daesh carries a warning, a badly versed announcement, that declares its presence in Pakistan till it achieves its goal to ‘cleanse this land of all infidels’. Here the word infidel has been used for all Pakistanis not adhering to the barbaric ways propagated by these terrorists.
The pamphlet was recovered from the gruesome site in Karachi where terrorists chose to gun down more than forty people in cold blood. This time they chose another small community, Ismaili Shias.
What is our response? Something similar to what we saw after the Peshawar carnage. The nation is mourning. The politicians and the military leadership is consulting once again. Sending out condolence messages, sticking to the rhetoric, promising to bring all the criminals to task.
Have we identified and recognized our enemy yet? Or is it just another phase of denial we have chosen to enter into by defying the rules of logic
The situation would remind us of a time just a few years ago when no one was willing to accept the Taliban as the enemy of this country. We had ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ Taliban. It took us a decade and the loss of more than 50 thousand lives to come to terms with the fact that there were only one type of Taliban and they were against the people of Pakistan. There would have been no Zarb-e-Azab if we were still picking the good Taliban from the bad ones.
Now here is another situation similar to it. There is a complete denial on government’s part to the fact that Daesh might have sympathizers here. It might be operated by the ‘heartbroken’ ideological orphans, the leftover of Taliban, the out of job recruits. They might have shifted their energies from saving their lost paradise to another brand of ruthless killing business.
The recent military leadership just recently raised their concerns of RAW involvement in Pakistan during their corps commander meeting. Not only in Baluchistan, but also in other parts of the country. And now after a week or so, most of the political leadership is also echoing the same concerns. If the state has the proof to substantiate RAW involvement it has be dealt with accordingly but it is not wise to turn a blind eye to a looming shadow of terror and sweeping aside all claims made by this nefarious organization called Daesh.
These claims could be a diversion. Can turn out to be completely bogus but there still is somebody here who is churning out these stories on their behalf, serving the devil at our expense. Who is spreading the terror? Why do we have the people living in all quarters supporting these men one way or the other? This needs to be addressed and sorted out.
If there is a shadow show being played, then there are actors too. When we are not sure of the directors of the heinous play the state must pin the actors first. There has to be a way to be sure of what the state is doing to curb this menace. It is insane to assume and target the most convenient of the enemies. The involvement of foreign agencies can neither be ruled out nor endorsed. Even if there is something being done from across the border the authorities need to find out their local faces. An enemy can be dealt with , spies can be disposed off with but an insider is a lethal enemy asset that has to be found out. If Daesh says it is them. It is them. The state does not have to deny something a group is claiming to do. It is better to catch them on the basis of their confessions than to let them go over the pre-conceived ideas that the authorities are sticking to.